- Ayo What was the very first mystery fiction book that you read
and who introduced you to the genre?
Linda The first mystery books that I read were the first five in
the series called the Hardy Boys, and then immediately into Nancy Drew...which
I devoured like candy. The reason I found the Hardy Boys first, when I was
about eight years old, was because I had an older brother who read and collected
them. I moved quite quickly into Poe short stories and poetry, and have
continued to read voraciously in the genre. By the time I was an adolescent,
my far her - whom I adored, and who was a great reader of mystery, thrillers
and espionage - was the person most respon sible for putting crime fiction
in my hands.
- Ayo Do you still enjoy reading crime fiction yourself?
Linda Yes, I read a tremendous amount of crime fiction (I read a
lot, and fortunately read rather quickly). I enjoy historical biography,
19th century British literature, and I can never get enough crime fiction.
I read and re-read the classics in the field, love to get my hands on everything
current, and also that it helps me know my colleagues in t he field.
- Ayo Do you enjoy being part of the mystery community and the accompanying
events? Which of the confer ences do you try and make sure that you attend?
Do you also enjoy book signings?
Linda I am shamelessly outspoken about how much I enjoy being part
of the mystery community and all the events that go along with the territory.
Since I have been a fan of the genre for so long, and a collector as well,
it's wonderful to go from the outside - my nose pressed against the window
looking in at all the fun - to be a participant. Until quite recently, with
the more-than-full-time prosecutorial job, it was difficult for me to get
to all the events I wanted to. I love Bouchercon, the MWA and SinC symposiums,
book fairs all over the U.S. - and now hope to make it to more regional
events, and of course, international ones, too.
And yes, I love book signings. It's a thrill to talk to readers who enjoy
my books, and for whom these fictional characters have come alive. I always
learn something interesting from fans - at least one per signing - that
I can often incorporate to make the series stronger. Although Alex was clearly
going to be my central character in the novels, Mike Chapman was - from
the outset - a favourite of many fans. When I was touring for Cold Hit,
I had a long conversation with a fan who remarked that if Alex liked Mike
so much, and enjoyed being around him so much, why don't we know more about
his life? why doesn't he have a life? So I started to expand my thinking
about Mike and his personal world - another reason I find it so valuable
to hear from loyal fans and good readers.
- Ayo Your very first book was a non-fiction book called Sexual Violence:
Our War Against Rape. In 1994 it was named most notable book by The New
York Times. What made you decide to write this book? Have you any plans
to write any more non-fiction books?
Linda The college I attended in the States - Vassar - was an extraordinary
institution, with a superb English literature department. I always wanted
to write, but figured that books would have to wait until I stopped the
full-time practice of law By the mid-1980's, several publishers approached
me and asked me to do a non-fiction book about the pioneering work of our
unit in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. My boss encouraged me
to take on the project, so in 1986 I agreed to do it.
- Ayo What made you decide to write a fiction novel?
Linda It has truly been a lifelong dream of mine to write novels.
As an adolescent and teenager, I wrote short stories - any of them mysteries
- all the time. The process of writing has always been a passion of mine.
After the non- fiction book was so well-received, one of my friends - who
is a great literary agent - said to me, "Stop whining about wanting to write
crime novels." She told me to sit down and try to write the story I thought
I could tell, and then show her the pages. She told me not to do too much,
in case she didn't think it would work. I wrote 90 pages, gave them to her....
and she sold them to Scribner in a two book deal. Those were the first 90
pages of Final Jeopardy.
- Ayo Who were your influences when you decided to start writing
in general? Do other books still influence your writing and if so, what
other types of writing are you attracted to?
Linda The moment at which I decided to try to write crime fiction
was when I discovered Patricia Cornwell's Postmor tem. I loved everything
that she did in that book and I thought that Kay Scarpetta's experience
mirrored my own professional development. The character was a strong woman
in a non-traditional job, one that most other people find interesting, although
quite grim. There were, at the time, four books in the series, and I think
I read them all in two days. What I wanted to do was to explore the world
of a sex crimes prosecutor, and show the very unusual relation ship between
prosecutors and police in New York City. I thought my job was the most fascinating
and challeng ing work on the face of the earth, and wanted to convey that
to my readers. As it happened, my literary agent - Esther Newberg - represented
Patricia Cornwell. The day I left for my summer vacation in August of 1994,
Esther invited me to lunch to give me a pep talk, sending me off to begin
the first pages that became Fiinal Jeopardy. The surprise guest at the luncheon
was Patsy Cornwell, whom I had never met before. Even though she knew I
was setting out in blatant imitation of her procedural style, she was enormously
generous - and has continued to be - to me, giving me all kinds of advice
about how to approach my work. Quite a wonderful send-off, don't you think?
- Ayo You have dealt with a number of high profile cases that even
made the newspapers here in the UK. The cases have included the Central
Park jogger case, the preppie-murder case and also the rather contro versial
cyber case which I understand is going to be re-heard. How did you feel
when you learnt that there was to be a retrial?
Linda In regards to the cyber case? The defendant was convicted,
and an appellate court orders a retrial two years later. While preparing
for the retrial, and because the defense investigators had so notoriously
harassed the young victim, she refused to testify at a second trial and
the case was dismissed in November '01. When one believes in the merits
of a prosecution, and has seen all the evidence in the case (which the jury
and media and public has not), it is always disheartening to have a conviction
reversed.
- Ayo Tabloid newspapers are notorious for being one-sided, fickle
and siding with those they consider being the underdog. The New York Post
for example have not been very kind towards you especially regarding the
Jovanovic cyber case. You were accused of being overzealous about the case.
Do you believe that gener ally you have been dealt with fairly by the newspapers?
Linda During my thirty - year career as a prosecutor I handled some
of the most notorious crimes which occurred in New York City. That exposed
me to an enormous amount of media scrutiny - both print and television.
Throughout that period, the press was extremely generous to me, over and
over again. There were very few times my judgment was second-guessed, even
under the most difficult of circumstances. Profiles, news articles, editorials
- and of course, even the gossip columnists - have all had their go at me,
and most all of it has been a gift. My position, and the decision-making
that went along with it, was not any place for the faint of heart. So yes,
the media has been more than fair to me.
- Ayo In England cameras are not allowed in the courtroom. How do
you feel about this especially in the light of the O.J Simpson case?
Linda I'm not a strong advocate of cameras in the courtroom. In my
work - sexual assault cases and homicides involv ing sex crimes - cameras
were not allowed in the courtroom in NY State, because of privacy issues
favouring victims. I think the Simpson case was an example of the worst
of what cameras in a courtroom attracted. To my view, that double homicide
was a what we call a garden-variety domestic violence case. It should have
been tried and won in three or four weeks - not the six month media circus
that the judge allowed it to be.
- Ayo: Do you think you would have enjoyed being Attorney General
if you had been appointed?
Linda: There is no question that the most thrilling moment of my
legal career was when I received the telephone call from President Clinton's
White House Counsel in 1993, asking me to be considered for the position
of Attorney General. I was one of the last three candidates for the job,
losing out to Janet Reno. I know I would have been honoured beyond measure
to have received that appointment, and I also know what great difficulties
I would have encountered. I can't imagine greater opportunity for a lawyer
in the United States. As I have reminded myself often in the years since,
though, my dream of writing fiction would have been delayed for eight years,
and Alex Cooper would just be starting out on her first caper. So this is
not a bad consolation prize.
- Ayo What made you decide to go into public service and become a
prosecutor and how did your interest in crime and in particular the sex
crimes prosecution service develop?
Linda Oh, this one deserves a very long answer, which I'll try to
shortcut. I was very much a child of the John F. Kennedy era and legacy.
I won my first writing prize when I was in high school, for an essay after
the Presi dent's assassination interpreting his inaugural words, "Ask not
what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country..."
I was inspired to do public service, and thought I could further that interest
by going to law school upon my graduation from college, in 1969. Vassar,
then, was an all-woman's college, and educated me to believe that I could
pursue any career I wanted. I reached law school - one of ten or twelve
women in a class of 340 men. From the first days, I was engaged by the issues
of criminal law evidence, trial advocacy, constitutional issues. I decided
I wanted a job in the Manhattan DA's office as a prosecutor. But women were
not very welcome in criminal trial work in those days. My law school professor
helped me kick open that door - and become the 7th women on a legal staff
of 170. In 1972, at the time I joined the office, no woman had ever prosecuted
a murder case. Every now and then I have to remind Alex Cooper of that.
There were no sex crimes units anywhere in America in those days. Our office
set up the first one in 1974.... and two years later, when the bureau chief
left the office, I was the only woman there who had tried any rape cases.
The District Attorney asked me to take over the supervision of the unit.
At first, my answer was no, be cause I thought it might be boring to have
a steady diet of one kind of crime. I agreed - reluctantly -to do it for
a year. Twenty-five years later, it was hard to tear myself away. The work
was constantly challenging, the laws continue to evolve in this aware, and
the work is richly rewarding. Like Alex, it's quite wonderful to be able
to see that justice is done in cases, which were handled so badly by our
criminal justice system for so very long.
- Ayo Do you believe that there are enough women prosecutors and
do you feel that women have a tougher time than men do?
Linda There has been an extraordinary change in the entire legal
practice in the States in the course of my professional lifetime. Women
in my generation had a hard time breaking in. During my job interview, the
D.A. told me he didn't think women should be trying cases in a criminal
courtroom - this was 1972 -because the work was too "tawdry" for them..
Now, in the practice of criminal law in the States, women can do everything.
Our legal staff has 600 lawyers, and half are women.
- Ayo Here in the UK we don’t have prosecutors that specialise in
specific crimes for example sex crimes, so could you explain what your job
involved and why/when the Sex Crimes Unit was set up? Did it have any connection
with the police? Did you have a specific role?
Linda The legal system in the UK is quite different than ours, as
many of your readers are aware. Our unit was set up in 1974 because the
criminal justice system had always been so hostile to victims of sexual
assault .We had an archaic series of laws about rape that we had inherited
from the UK. When we began to change those in the '60's and '70's, our office
was the first in America acknowledge that we had to do something very innovative
and aggressive to make the system work for victims, and to allow them to
trust us. The unit started with 2 lawyers. When I left the office in February
of this year, after supervising it for 26 years - we had forty lawyers who
specialized in the investigation and prosecution of sexual assault cases,
two dozen who specialized in domestic violence, and ten who handled child
abuse. In Manhattan, because of our long history and experience, we have
a very unique relationship with the NYPD. It's even unusual throughout the
States. I try to show it through my fictional counterpart, Alex Cooper.
When ever a rape or homicide related to a sexual assault occurred, the lieutenant
in charge of Special Victims (SVU) or the Chief of Detectives called me
directly, so that we could work together on the investigation from the out
set, combining our knowledge and experience for a better likelihood of an
arrest and conviction.
-
Ayo While you were a prosecutor, did you find handling
investigations into sex crimes difficult and how much of a personal toll
did it take on you?
Linda The investigation of these cases was always difficult - complex,
often quite emotional, and intense. Our work became a bit easier, and
even more interesting, with the arrival of DNA technology. As hard as
the work was, that's what made it so attractive. Yes, it takes quite a
personal toll. It involves much more emotional involvement with your victim,
and that's why not everyone enjoys it. In Final Jeopardy, Alex explains
a lot about why she likes the work, and also that Mike - like many cops
and prosecutors - prefers homicides because you don't' have to deal with
getting a living witness through all the emotional highs and lows of the
process.
-
Ayo Alex sometimes finds herself in rather dangerous
situations. Did you ever find yourself in dangerous situations as a result
of your work?
Linda Occasionally, during investigations, I was exposed to some
dangerous situations, but never as often or as extreme as Alex has been.
I think I would have quit long before this! The woman who stalked Alex
in The Deadhouse (and comes back in the next book) actually did stalk
me. Sometimes I try to use actual situations that have been dangerous.
But generally I've been quite safe.
-
Ayo You recently retired as Sex Crime Prosecutor.
What made you decide to take the decision to step down from a job that
was very challenging and one that you clearly enjoyed doing?
Linda My decision to leave the DA's office earlier this year was
probably the most difficult one of my life. (I refuse to call it retirement,
because I have NO plans to stop working...). I always said that I would
leave when I woke up in the morning and it was no longer interesting to
go to the office. Well, that day never came. In 1995, when Scribner made
a two-book deal for the Alex Cooper series, it was the first time I gave
serious thought to leaving the office. But still, my heart was so wrapped
up in the prosecutorial work that I couldn't step away. As the books became
more successful, I gave more and more thought to spending more time writing,
to get on the one-book-a-year schedule. This marked my 30th year in the
D.A.'s office. So very much has been made possible in my professional
life time that I began to feel much more comfortable about stepping aside.
What clinched it was the opportunity to continue to work - pro bono -
for the DA and NYPD as a consultant, while writing full-time it seemed
to be the best of both worlds.
-
Ayo Having worked for such a long time in New York
as well as living there, I have to ask where were you on September 11th.
Were you very close to the area and has this had an affect on your writing?
Linda On the morning of September 11th, I went to the office quite
early to get some work done before the business day started, because I
had a book launch two weeks later - for The Deadhouse - and Scribner had
planned a big national tour. I was at my desk, ten blocks north of the
site, when the first plane hit the WTC at 8:46 - I heard the explosion
and the window beside my shook violently. There was only one other person
on my corridor, and she turned on a television. I was standing at my window,
looking at the burning north tower and actually saw the second explosion
as the plane crashed. For those who write stand-alone novels, series that
don't take place in NYC, or series about amateur sleuths in NYC, the terrorist
attacks don't have to affect their writing in the least. In my view, anyone
who writes a series about characters in law enforcement in NYC, can't
write about this time period without mentioning some aspect of 9/11. While
this tragedy has impacted all our lives, it has radically changed law
enforcement agencies within the city.
-
Ayo Why did you decide to write in the first person
instead of the third person?
Linda When I set out to create this series, it was an easy choice
for me to make. I very much wanted to let the reader into my professional
world, which has been - in many ways - unique. I wanted the reader to
discover things the way the prosecutor does, and to experience her emotions
and decisions. In that way, I thought, I could explain and explore my
passion for the job.
-
Ayo Is there any topic that you wouldn’t want to
use in your books?
Linda I really don’t like writing about child abuse or children
in jeopardy. I don’t like reading novels about it, so I don’t write them.
-
Ayo All your fans know that there is a lot of you
in Alex Cooper. Did you set out on purpose to model her on yourself? Does
she have all your traits or are there any of her traits that you wished
you had?
Linda Yes, there is a lot of me in my fictional heroine. But what
you see - on purpose - is the professional side of Linda Fairstein. I
wanted to give the reader the experience of a big-city prosecutor as she
investigates cases, of ten high-profile ones, with NYPD detectives, using
cutting-edge scientific techniques as well as old-fashioned litigation
skills. Because the books are written in the first person, I think it
is natural for the writer to think that he or she knows me. But the personal
side/life of Alex Cooper is NOT Linda Fairstein, and that's the way I
in tend to keep it.
-
Ayo Final Jeopardy your first fiction book introduced
us to Alex Cooper an intelligent but overworked sex crimes prosecutor
and opens with a brilliant scenario whereby Alex reads her own obituary
in the news paper. It also deals with the case of a stalker. What made
you decide to deal with this issue Linda Thanks for the compliment.
I do like that opening scene, too. Final Jeopardy grew out of a real stalking
case I investigated. The stalker was diagnosed as an "erotomaniac" - the
first time I had ever encountered this rare condition. The person being
stalked was the actress Greta Scacci, who was filming a movie in NYC at
the time. She really didn't have connections there, so I offered her our
wonderful old farmhouse on Martha's Vineyard as weekend escape, to get
away from the stalker. Then, I woke up in the middle of the night, realizing
that if the stalker followed her to my house - which sits alone on a beautiful
hilltop - no one would be around to help her. The story arose out of that
"what if?" moment, and allowed me to expose an issue or condition that
is little-- known, but quite real and quite lethal
-
Ayo What was the story behind your second novel
Likely To Die? As much as I enjoyed reading it I began to view hospitals
and doctor’s surgeries in a totally different light.
Linda One of our high profile murders, almost ten years ago, occurred
inside one of NYC’s largest hospitals, called Bellevue. A young physician,
working late in an office at the hospital, was raped and then stabbed
to death by a homeless man who had been living in the hospital for months.
He slept on the rooftop or in supply closets during the day, eating food
from patients’ trays, then stole lab coats and roamed the hallways at
night, pretending to be on staff. It made me keenly aware of the fact
that large urban hospitals have populations that are larger than many
towns in the U.S. Thousands of patients, physician nurses and support
staff, before you even get to the thousands more delivery people and visitors
who walk in and out the front and back doors. In addition, my unit has
handled many cases in which health care professionals themselves - even
with all their degrees and licenses - have committed offences. Finally,
the day I completed the manuscript of Final Jeopardy, there was a story
in the NY Times about someone who tried to kill the chief surgeon in the
neurology department at one of our great teaching hospitals at Vanderbilt
University. The killer was caught on his way into the building, with his
weapon, by a security guard. The motive, the reason why he wanted to kill
the prominent neurosurgeon became the catalyst for my killer’s motive
in Likely To Die, and clinched the idea for me to use the normally benign
hospital setting for the second novel in my series.
-
Ayo: Cold Hit is the forensic slang for an exact
match in DNA. In your novel Cold Hit, we are introduced not only to the
subject of DNA but also the art world. Where/how did you research the
art industry and are you yourself an art collector?
Linda: One of the things I like to do in my novels is to explore
a particular world, like the medical community, that we usually think
as non-violent. Cold Hit examines the art world - museums, galleries,
collectors and all the be hind the scene machinations of that business.
To me, museums and galleries had always been places of refuge and calm,
where I was able to transport myself after hours, away from some of the
grim realities of my own work. Again, one of the worst cases I investigated
in the 80’s involved a very well known dealer in NYC who participated
in a very gruesome murder of a young Swedish tourist. Then, there were
a series of thefts - like one I use in the book at the Isabella Stewart
Gardner museum in Boston, of a Rembrandt and a Vermeer - which still remains
unsolved. And just as I started to plot, there were the beginnings of
the scandals at the large international auction houses. So I love to get
inside worlds that appear on the surface to be elegant and benign but
are teeming with schemes and frauds and deceit.... and often, with murder
and mayhem. One of the things I have done after each book I have completed
is to buy myself a small painting or print. It’s not a serious collection,
but I hope that it be comes one.
-
Ayo Forensic science is an exciting world and is
being used more and more to fight crime. Why did you decide DNA has literally
revolutionized the criminal justice system. In my work - sexual assault
and homicides - no single thing has resulted in more dramatic results
since the discovery of fingerprint identification a century ago.
Linda For the first 15 years of my 30 years as a prosecutor, we
investigated and tried cases (as colleagues had done for decades) without
this sophisticated technology. When I was first presented with the possibility
of using new science in 1986, the only lab doing forensic DNA in the US
was at the F.B.I. It took six months to get a preliminary result, and
we were competing against every other jurisdiction in the country so we
could use it in a handful of cases a year. No court in America accepted
it as a valid and reliable scientific technique. Now, we use it every
day in every single case that occurs, and our own serology lab, in the
M.E’s office, can give us a preliminary result within 24 hours. Every
court in the country accepts science as reliable. Also, now there are
databanks that are both local and national. The “cold hits” that I wrote
about in ‘99 were rare then, but are a daily occurrence at this point.
It’s extraordinary tool and continues to be more and more amazing - not
just blood and seminal fluid - but a bit of saliva from the lip of a coffee
cup or a skin cell left on a doorknob or a computer mouse. I’m a great
cheerleader for the use of DNA in forensic investigations.
-
Ayo: Your latest book is The Deadhouse. It deals
with the issue of domestic violence, but it also goes on to deal with
Missing students, drug dealers and The Deadhouse. Furthermore, we are
also given a bit more in sight into Mike Chapman’s life. It is actually
a quite harrowing book. What gave you the idea for this story? The Deadhouse
also gives a fascinating insight into the history of Roosevelt Island.
How much of the history was fact and how much of it was fiction?
Linda Every night, on my way home from the DA's Office in lower
Manhattan, I drove up the east side highway and passed the lighted ruins
of a magnificent structure, sitting alone on the southern tip of an island
in the East River. The scene reminded me very much of the opening of Rebecca
- the burned remains of Manderly, the once-beautiful home of Max De Winter.
It's a place that everyone notices, and none of my friends knew what it
once had been. To me, it seemed a wonderfully haunting setting, and a
great place to set a crime novel. Researching material for the novels
is one of my favourite undertakings. I spent hours at a small museum called
the New York Historical Society, and learned that the building had once
been a smallpox hospital, built in the 1850's to isolate contagious patients
from the dense population of Manhattan. The reason it is so very beautiful
is that it was designed by James Renwick, the architect who went on to
build our great St. Patrick's Cathedral. In my reading of original documents,
I came across the word "deadhouse" - an old Scottish word meaning morgue,
or place where dead bodies are kept. I knew the building itself would
play a part in the novel, but it was only when I got hooked about the
fascinating history of old Blackwell's Island that I decided to weave
it into the story. So all of that history about the hospitals, the prison,
the raid on the prison, and the prisoners who controlled the penitentiary
itself -is true.
-
Ayo: Despite the fact that Alex has got great friends,
is smart, and funny, she does on the occasion come across as a rather
lonely woman. Was this intentional?
Linda No, it's not at all intentional that Alex comes across as
lonely. In fact, one of the things that sustained me through a long career
of intense and difficult work was the support of family and friends. I
try to portray through her close collegial relationships, and her dear
friends like Nina Baum and Joan Stanton (both of whom have real-life counterparts),
how important those friendships are to Alex's emotional strength and well-being.
And of course, Alex is single - as I was for the first fifteen years of
my career. I want her to be single for a long while, for plot and character
development purposes. In fact, my husband has been an enormous source
of support for me throughout the length of our relationship - and in both
careers. Sometimes, especially working high-profile cases when the pressures
are even greater than the average day, the work is extremely lonely. You
are very much on your own in front of the jury in the courtroom, and I
suspect the loneliness you detect accurately reflects a lot about what
goes on in many periods of a prosecutor's working life.
-
Ayo What’s the deal between Alex and Mike Chapman.
There is clearly a lot of sexual tension between the two of them and it
is very evident in the latest book. They are clearly fond of each other.
Is there any chance that the two of them might become an item?
Linda Alex and Mike reflect the fact that much of the time in police/prosecutorial
relationships, there are intensely close friendships, which develop. You
truly become a team in the course of long investigations (some of my high-profile
cases have taken two years from the time of the murder until an arrest
an conviction). We cover each other's backs, protect each other, spend
an inordinate amount of time together - in and away from the of office,
and have to trust and rely on our "partners." I think the sexual tension
was inevitable in the case of these characters. One of the reasons I would
guess that Alex doesn't want to cross that line is that once she does,
she knows the working relationship will never quite be the same again.
Maybe she's done that before, with some one else? In any event, it is
probably the single question I am asked most frequently by fans, so I
hope they will continue to read on to see what happens.
- Ayo Alex and Mike are always betting against each other with questions
from the TV show Jeopardy. What made you decide to have this rather quirky
behaviour between the two of them?
Linda In the States, Jeopardy! has been an extremely popular show
for a very long time. When I was in law school, a friend and I actually
had the habit of trying to bet against each other for the last question
- we never had time to watch the entire show. I've often worked with cops
who have had quirky habits, and I thought I could incorporate this one into
the books. One other thing - I have enormous respect for the men and women
of the NYPD. In print and on the movie screen, I truly despise the depiction
of the "dumb cop" that so frequently appears. Many, like Mike, are college
graduates who are very intelligent and have had many career options. I like
to show his range of interests, particularly his depth of knowledge about
military history. So the device is both meant to be quirky in the humorous
sense, but also to remind the readers that Mike is a well-educated and smart
guy.
- Ayo: I’m sure that your fans have noticed that your husband Justin
Feldman (who is also an attorney) has a cameo appearance in each of your
books. How does he feel about appearing in your books and the fact that
he is one person that Alex dreads facing in court?
Linda Justin is a brilliant lawyer, and has also been the most enthusiastic
champion of my crime writing career. As a personal "tribute," if you will,
I surprised him by giving a character his name so he could have a cameo
appearance in Final Jeopardy. Of course, he loved it and so did all our
friends. I decided to reprise him in the second novel, and then I just couldn't
let him go. He's got a great sense of humour so he enjoys the Hitchcockian
cameos, and delights in the fact that Cooper is a bit afraid of his professional
prowess.
- Ayo Out of your four books, which is your favourite? Why?
Linda I think that The Deadhouse is my favourite because I think
it's the most polished of the books, in terms of writing and plotting. I
hope that with each book I become better, and I am certainly more confident.
Having said that, Final Jeopardy is a very close second. I think that's
because it's like the first child, in a way. I still pinch myself when I
think that it was my entree into this world I so wanted to become a part
of, and I like the book a lot.
- Ayo Can you describe your writing style? Has it changed over the
past four books?
Linda Actually, no. I do things pretty much the same way, although
I have a great deal more confidence now, and I think that helps me in the
writing
- Ayo Who are some of the authors that you read for pleasure?
Linda There are always books with and around me, and I read all the
time. I love to read Patricia Cornwell and John LeCarre . I like to read
Richard North Patterson, Lisa Scottoline, Frances Fyfield, P.D. James. Stacked
next to my desk right now are the new Jeffery Deaver, Michael Connelly,
Elmore Leonard, Loren Estleman, and Alan Furst. My character, Joan Stanton,
is actually Jane Stanton Hitchcock. You may remember Trick of the Eye and
The Witches' Hammer. Jane's new one, coming in June, is Social Crimes -
and it's wickedly clever and funny. At the same time, I've got the Jenkins
Churchill biography, the collected letters of Philip Larkin (the late British
poet, whom I respect enormously), and Antonia Fraser's Marie Antoinette.
I'm leaving out scores of favourites, I know. I love books.
- Ayo What’s your work schedule normally like?
Linda Many writers hold two jobs. What made it so difficult for me
is the fact that the prosecutorial job was very un predictable, and often
all consuming. I usually got to the office by 7:30 a.m., and rarely left
before 7 in the evening. And like Alex Cooper, I was on 24-hour call, as
chief of a large unit with a steady volume of crimes. The police called
and beeped whenever - during nights and weekends - a case occurred, so that
I would be informed and could assign it immediately or come out to the crime
scene or station house myself. When I was actually on trial with case, everything
else took second place. I'd work all day in the courtroom, and still come
back to my desk to dozens of messages and problems that had to be solved.
Writing was forced to take a back seat to the actual life and death issues
with which I was confronted on a daily basis. That's one of the reasons
that finally helped me to step down this year and devote myself to writing
novels full time.
- Ayo What do you find the most difficult when you are writing?
Linda There is only one difficult thing, for me, about writing. The
prosecutorial job was a terrifically collegial one. As supervisor of a large
unit, my door was always open. Other assistant district attorneys in my
division and lots of young lawyers in the office were in and out all day,
bringing me up to speed on investigations or seeking advice and trial strategy.
Cops and detectives were there by appointment or dropping in with paperwork,
case updates, and requests for subpoenas or court orders. The only time
I had to myself was before things geared up in the morning, which is why
I liked to be at my desk early, and at the end of the day. Writing is a
very solitary process, so that's a big difference. But I enjoy writing.
I love to sit at the word processor with a blank screen, and begin to tell
a story. I enjoy everything about writing, except that I miss all my pals
throughout the day.
- Ayo How do you feel once you have finished writing a book? Do you
normally have a sense of elation that you have finished it or do you start
to worry about how well it is going to be received?
Linda Well this is an easy one to answer, been as I finished a book
five days ago. It's a completely euphoric moment for me when I finish one
of my novels. Once I am four or five scenes away from the ending, and I
have told and retold the story to myself in every waking minute, I become
very impatient that I can't write it as quickly as I can envision it. So
when I finally get to the very last scene, and then just relish typing the
words 'THE END', it'' s a complete release and relief. I always do something
celebratory. I really don't worry too much about how it's going to be received
until after my wonderful editor, Susanne Kirk, gives it a careful review
and returns her comments to me. So I usually have a week of absolute joy
about having finished a book before the aggravation and concern set in.
Right now, I'm delirious.
- Ayo You have a very good web site that has recently been redesigned
and is a boon for Alex Cooper fans. How much do you use the internet? How
useful have you found it for research and promotion?
Linda The Internet is still a learning process for me. I put a lot
of attention into creating a new web site for The Deadhouse, for which I
received a lot of compliments. (Then I got so involved with extricating
myself from the office that I've ignored it lately - my webmaster is after
me to get him dates and so on). We will create an entirely new site again,
in anticipation of my next book in the series - The Bone Vault - which will
be published in January '03. I love to poke around on the Internet, and
I'm always amazed to find out what's there. I'd like to take some classes
later this year to educate myself about what's available, for research purposes.
Since I love books so much, my first tendency is to find a library in which
to do my research, so that I can actually touch and hold onto the pages
of books. I used more than 30 books in my research for The Bone Vault....and
then, at the last minute, desperate for an example of something I needed,
I went on-line. I played with some sites and was rewarded with a few articles
from international news sources that I had not previously seen. It's a great
resource.
- Ayo What do you enjoy doing when you are not writing?
Linda This will be an entire new world for me, to have free time.
Once I began to write books a decade ago, the free time from my prosecutorial
job was all devoted to my writing. I used to play a lot of tennis, which
I hope to pick up again. Justin and I love to travel, so I think there will
be a lot more of that. We both love to spend time with family and friends.
Like Alex, I'm a devotee of the ballet - so ballet and theatre, along with
reading, are great passions. I've just joined a gym because I find that
I don't move around nearly enough, as I did when I was constantly on the
go as a prosecutor. And at the moment, having handed in the book, I've got
a whole series of luncheons planned for the next two months, exploring the
possibility of some media consulting and writing for magazines in the U.S.
-
Ayo: What has been your biggest challenge so far?
Linda That's a wonderful question, and I'm not sure what the right
answer is. I look back now over a long career in the law and wonder how
I had the courage and fortitude to take on some of the challenges I did,
which seemed difficult but not daunting at the time. It was an extraordinary
challenge, in 1972, to choose a career in criminal litigation when no
woman had ever tried a murder case in New York - something the young lawyers
in my office cannot imagine. Yet at the time I entered the profession,
I was foolish enough to think that my great education prepared me to do
anything I wanted to attempt. Taking over the newly created Sex Crimes
Prosecution Unit in 1976 seemed like a major challenge, and I was reluctant
to do it, as I mentioned above. I look back at the accomplishments of
my colleagues in that unit over the past quarter of a century and I am
stunned by what we all managed to do. But then, I think that my dream
was always to write novels. The fact that I have been able to break through
into this world, when one considers the number of manuscripts submitted
to agents and publishers every year, and the number of books in print,
is an even greater thrill. I think it's pretty clear that I like challenges.
-
Ayo ABC recently made Final Jeopardy into a TV
movie. Is there any chance it might be shown in the UK?
Linda: Final Jeopardy aired as a made-for-TV by ABC in 2001. They've
now sold it to other cable channels, so it has been shown on the USA network,
for example. The producer fully expected that it would sell in foreign
markets, and that may now be in the works. Sometimes, American TV movies
not only sell for foreign television, but also are sold as theatrical
movies. By the way, the movie has been nominated for an Edgar - results
on May . Likely To Die is now in pre-production for a second ABC television
movie, from the same team. One of the nice aspects of the movie's success
is that it has attracted more readers to the series.
-
Ayo: Is there any chance of you might visit the
UK soon?
Linda Both Justin and I love the UK and have visited often. My
British publishers at Time Warner (formerly Little Brown UK) have been
tremendously successful, and have toured me quite extensively in the past.
I expect that when The Bone Vault is published in early 2003, I'll be
over to promote it. And we're hoping to travel to London before then,
in the fall, for pleasure....and perhaps a bit of research.
-
Ayo: How would you like to be remembered in your
former job?
Linda I would hope to be remembered as a prosecutor who was fierce
in her efforts to do justice for victims of violence, creative in her
vision to lead investigations, fair in her dealings with all parties and
whose integrity was paramount.
-
Ayo Finally, if you could take five books away
with you on a desert island which ones would you choose and why?
Linda Is it cheating to say that one of them would be the complete
works of William Shakespeare
-
Ayo No
Linda I'd start with that - all the plays and the poetry. I don't
think there is anyone who has used the English language more brilliantly,
and is there a plot anywhere that wasn't first put forward by Will? Then,
I'd want Tolstoy's War and Peace. I love the epic sweep of it, and the
combination of great, dense story telling with so much European history
thrown it. Le Carre's The Spy who Came in From the Cold, which I reread
every year or so. It is wonderfully spare prose, deviously plotted, and
haunting in its character development. Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the
Wind, another epic which reminds me, in a very Proustian way, of my child
hood. I remember reading it as an adolescent, shortly after seeing the
movie for the first time. It was one of the books that instilled in me
the desire to become a writer. The storytelling was riveting, as was the
history of the American south, the tragic story of slavery in America
and southern race relations, and even the love stories within the novel.
And then, The complete works of Edgar Allan Poe. Again for me, this served
as my introduction to the world of the mysterious and macabre, and I'd
love to revisit all of it. When you send reinforcements to me on the island,
please be sure to include all of Conan Doyle, lots of 19th century British
poetry, Sterne's Tristram Shandy, and everything you recommend in the
forthcoming Mystery Women newsletter!
Ayo Can I say thank you very much indeed for allowing me to interview
you on behalf of Mystery Women.
Books in the Alex Cooper series:
Final Jeopardy (1996) Likely to Die (1997) Cold Hit (1999)
The Deadhouse (2001) The Bone Vault (2003)
Linda Fairstein’s web site can be found at – http://www.lindafairstein.com
